Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1962)

:bs' gold mine Earner to pay $5.5 million for 'Fair Lady' movie rights Motion picture rights to Broadway's longest-running musical, "My Fair Lady," have been sold by CBS to Warner Bros, tor a record $5.5 million. The announcement last week climaxes negotiations, which in the play's tradition also have been long-run. The Warner purchase was anticipated in early fall (Broadcasting, Oct. 2, 1961). CBS invested $360,000 to back the production in 1956. The show already lias passed its 2,450th performance in New York and has grossed more than $18 million there. Columbia Records, a CBS division, which holds exclusive original-cast recording rights, has sold more than 3,250,000 albums. Jack L. Warner, president of Warner Bros., said his motion picture company would film "the most lavish musical entertainment in the history of motion pictures" under his personal production direction. The network acquired a 40% share of the musical's box office profits when it agreed to back the show nearly six years ago, and as of last fall the show had netted CBS more than $3.2 million on the ticket gross. The albums has grossed about $15 million. CBS has purchased movie, tv and other subsidiary rights for $2 million from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the musical's authors. Herman Levin, who produced the show with CBS, sought to rescind the purchase, but an arbitration upheld the sale as valid and directed the network to place the movie rights to the musical on the open market. Mr. Levin, among others, will share in movie proceeds. Radio's superior reach in suburbs explained Radio is of increasing importance to advertisers because it alone among major media provides complete coverage of the suburban areas which are today's most rapidly growing areas, Maurie Webster, vice president and general manager of CBS Radio Spot Sales, said Thursday (Feb. 8) in Los Angeles. Delivering a new presentation, "Todays Expanding Markets," to an audience of agency media buyers, Mr. Webster noted that in addition to phe nomenal growth, many times larger than that of either central city or nonmetropolitan areas, the residents of suburbs have an income level 42% higher than people in city centers, with considerably higher proportions of home ownership and auto ownership. "And," he added, "the competition is less . . . for the farther you go from the city centers, the less competitive products are sold." Contrasting the ability of radio and newspapers to reach the important suburban market, Mr. Webster pointed out that "within the newspaper-defined city zone, the city's radio stations reach 84.5% of all the people in an average day. Out in the retail trading zone, these same stations have an 83.6% penetration. But for the city newspapers it's a different story. In the city zone they reach 78.1% but in the retail trading zone they drop to less than 50%." ASCAP seeks Cascade fees The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers last week began arbitration proceedings against Cascade Broadcasting Co., Seattle. ASCAP claims that Cascade owes it $68,351.14 in license fees for music used on Cascade's four tv and three radio stations. Cascade owns KIMA-AM-TV Yakima, KEPR-AM-TV Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, KBAS-TV Ephrata and KWIQ Moses Lake, all Washington, and KLEW-TV Lewiston, Idaho. Under the license agreements, any dispute between ASCAP and Cascade is to be determined by three arbitrators. Each party will appoint one arbitrator and the third will be named by Chief Judges Sylvester J. Ryan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A determination will be made in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Assn. AFTRA local expels three Three employes of KFWB Los Angeles were expelled from the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists and fined by the union for strikebreaking activities during the four-month AFTRA strike against KFWB last summer. The board of the talent union's Los Angeles local heard charges on Tuesday (Feb. 6) against Roger Christian, Garry Goodwin and Ted Randall, levied fines of $5,000 each against Messrs. Christian and Randall and $8,000, highest in AFTRA history, against Mr. Goodwin, who was found guilty of "high treason" for leaving work on strike activities at union headquarters to cross the picket line to work for KFWB. The board will hear charges against a fourth member of KFWB, Gene Weed, tonight (Feb. 12). West Virginia invites Latin Americans Mel Burka (1), president of the West Virginia Broadcasters Assn., and Carl R. Sullivan (r), executive director of the West Virginia Centennial Commission, watch Gov. W. W. Barron sign letters, currently being delivered by Robert Ferguson, WTRF-TV Wheeling, on his Latin American visit with other members of the NAB. (Broadcasting, Jan. 29). The letters include: the governor's invitation to visit the state; Mr. Sullivan's invitation to visit the Centennial in 1963; Mr. Burka's greeting for an exchange of program ideas and tapes. 70 (THE MEDIA) BROADCASTING, February 12, 1962